Lynette's Week 1 Weigh-In

Okay. First week completed. I lost 5 1/2 pounds (you'd better believe I'm claiming that half pound) for 2.8%. Did anyone watch the real "Biggest Loser" this week? Some dude lost 22 pounds!! In a week!! How is that even possible? Crazy.

Chicken Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew

This is one of my very favorite recipes to make of late. I mentioned it to Sheral when they were over the other night, and she asked me to post it to the blog. I don't know if quinoa is readily available in Utah grocery stores (I am sure you could get it at Smith's or Whole Foods or a health food store), but if not, you could probably substitute couscous or even rice. Quinoa is the best option because it provides a ton of fiber and protein from a plant source, but you still have chicken in the stew so you would get protein there. The soup is not necessarily low-calorie in the sense that it is super-hearty, but it is extremely healthy and low fat - and it will fill you up! I had a bowl yesterday for lunch and could barely eat anything for dinner. The best part is that it makes your house smell amaaaaaaaazing! The full recipe with pictures can be found here, or you can use the instructions below.


Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash & Quinoa Recipe
Yield: Serves 6
From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside.
Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside.
In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer.
Add chicken thighs, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Transfer the chicken thighs to a plate and allow to cool. Pour broth into a medium-sized bowl.
Return the saucepan to the stovetop and lower heat to medium. Add olive oil.
Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is starting to turn brown, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add minced garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.
To the saucepan, add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces, mashed butternut squash. Stir to combine.
Stir in reserved chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook until the quinoa turns translucent, about 15 minutes.
Shred the chicken with your fingers or a fork.
Stir the chicken, olives and pepper into the stew and simmer, uncovered, to heat, about 5 minutes.
Stir in parsley and serve.

Starting next Monday.

Welp, this is the training program I'm going to follow. I'm starting next week, so that I can make exercise a part of my new schedule as I start the semester! Also... the fact that it says 27 min jog up there, like my body can do that, frrrreaks. me. out. But it can!

Thank you, Pinterest.

Graphic source:http://runtobefit.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/couch-to-5k-training-plan.png

Official Day One.

I weighed myself this morning for the "starting point" - and let me just say this; I have eaten crap (not exaggerating one iota) CRAP for 3 weeks straight and I gained a whopping .8 pounds. I thought I would be all smart and load on a few extra 'easy' to lose early in the competition - not gonna happen. I ate myself sick. Not to mention the infection from all the soda - which I am finished with. I wanted to eat so much that I would puke and never want to eat again. Apparently my stomach can handle crap-load amounts of food at a time. Good to know???
I keep hearing the delicious benefits of the 'green smoothie'. I broke down and made one this morning. It was brown, or maybe olive green. It was so... earthy... that's the only word to describe it. Not refreshing, not amazing, not delicious. I could tell it was good for me. I kept it down. I was pretty surprised. Later today (while I was at the gym) my nursery partner Lindsey brought me ANOTHER green shake. She has been making/consuming them for months. She LOVES them - and even craves them. I asked her Sunday - only yesterday?? Really?? - if she would make her favorite one and write down everything she put in it so I could know what I'm shooting for. Hers was MUCH better. It was green. It wasn't 'woody'. I really liked it. Needless to say, I ate every bit of my fruits and veggies for the day in those 2 shakes. It's a pretty easy way to get them in there. I agree with Shelby - I need to change the way I look at food. Not as a 'treat'. Not as a 'reward'. Food should be looked at as fuel - something my body needs to function properly. Thanks Shel!!
Oh, and Tori - I would love if you posted the recipe for the squash stuff that Brittany ate and got the flu and can't eat it anymore, cause it sounded delicious to me!! (Not the barfing.) Thanks!!
I also decided today that I will probably never be the girl who loves eating healthy foods, I will probably never be the girl who loves working out... but, I hope to be the girl who just eats healthy foods and exercises because it's good for me. I feel tired and sore, but I think it's gotta be that way for this to work!


THE RULES: (now that everyone has signed in, I think)
1. I think everyone who participates and reaches their goals should go on a trip - a fun one. I don't care where/when. Just a fun, frivolous trip.
2. WINNING the Biggest Loser will have to come down to whoever LOSES the most actual weight. Lynette and I are going with percentages, and we have the same goal of 22%. If we both reach our 22% - it will have to be all about the pounds - which I think I have the advantage there, because I'm the biggest. :) Sorry ladies!! LOL!
3. I think it's important for us to check in at least weekly and report our stats... like 3 pounds closer to 155... or 1% loss... etc. I think it will be helpful to all of us.

Okay, I'm in:(

I'm not sure how this is working but here I go. I've never been too worried about going to the gym and developing a six pack, and I've enjoyed drinking many a six packs of Pepsi that is, but it's past time to practice some good health habits. I related most to Bev's POST about wanting to be under a certain goal weight, exercising and dropping a few bad habits. I'm not going cold turkey on the pop, but I will try and limit myself to (1) 12 oz can a day and 64 oz of water a day to flush it through. I'm going to try and exercise 5 days a week for an hour each day doing cardio and weights. The weight I'd like to get to is 155.

For being involved in sports as much as I have been I've really never developed the discipline of a routine workout or diet. Daily practices don't count; so this is really harder for me than it may seem. Maybe as hard as a toffee making contest:)

Thanks for getting us to do this Sheral and good luck to everyone!

Oh, just saying HEY.

My name is Shelby. I'm 18 years old, and I am a freshman at Utah Valley University. I live with ...crazy roommates, sometimes I feel like I have to try harder at school than the average person to achieve the same results, and I'm tired 85% of the time when I'm doing school. However, none of these reasons excuse the solid fact that good habits take a long time to form, and better nutrition = better quality of life. I also heard somewhere that those who run have better time management skills, and honestly, who couldn't go for that?

I'm not looking to "get skinny" or reach a certain weight. I'd be fine if my weight stayed exactly the same, or went up, due to muscle (eh. Cross your fingers). My goal is to get stronger. I've decided to define stronger as being able to run the Kaysville 4th of July 10k with my sister, Brittany. She's kind of a big deal. I found a really good training outline that I will share in a later post.

Anyway. I know a big part of being able to exercise successfully is the fuel you put into your body - just like a car being able to make it to its destination - so I'm going to really make the effort to make healthy choices in my eating. I'll share good tips as I find them!

Another thing is, I'm really looking forward to pushing myself. I'm really bad at that - at trusting myself, and believing that I truly am capable of things. I want to prove to myself that I can hit a point that feels like the end, and push past it. I can keep going. I want to learn to trust myself more, and I hope this goal will help me to do so!

And most of all, I want to support our amazing family as we start this thing together. Let's hop on this healthy train!

BRING IT ON, GUYS!

The Starting Point

Today I had my official first weigh-in. It's noted. It's recorded. It's horrendous. Actually, it's the same weight as December 1st, so I was pleased that at least it hadn't gotten worse during the holidays. Anyway, I now have my starting point and I am ready to be serious! Woot! Woot!

Picture from http://thelostjacket.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/startingline1-500x337.jpg